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Chapter 2

Cross looked at the kid sleeping and sighed when he heard yet another cry. It had been a week since he had found the boy, Allen, and each night he would have nightmares. Cross hadn't had a week of the beauty sleep he needed, which translated to, he was tired as hell and was about to kill the damn kid!

"Mana! Don't leave me…!"

Idiot apprentice, Cross thought pinching his nose, I'm trying to sleep so, shut up! He got ready to shout at his apprentice, however, when his owl Timcampy nudged him and then glanced at the kid only to look at Cross once again. He gave the sniffling kid a glare before patting his head, admittedly it might have been a little awkward because Cross didn't know how to comfort anyone, much less a kid, but Allen seemed to take comfort by it and quieted down.

The older person in the room breathed a sigh of relief, maybe he would be able to get some sleep now. He moved away slowly… and the stupid kid started back up again.

"Argh! You brat!" He yelled through his clenched teeth but still went back to patting his head. How could Tiedoll stand having more than one kid, when he couldn't even stand one?

Cross stared at the white haired boy who gazed back at him with empty eyes before switching his attention to the broccoli and the chicken which laid there on the plate in front of him. He hadn't eaten anything since he had arrived and Cross, while he would never admit, was a little worried. And didn't know what to do because unlike the nightmares, this could possibly be the death of the kid.

As Cross tried to think of ways to get him to eat, Maria's voice crept in his mind.

How do you ever expect to take care of a child if you don't even know what to do with her? You need to think of what children like, and you know what they like? Funny things that make them laugh, something that makes them feel special. He had shrugged and said he wasn't planing on having a child, so why the hell would he have to learn how to take care of one?

The older of the two started to chuckle as he thought the irony of his response and muttered, "Funny things, and crap that makes brats feel special, huh." He rubbed his hands together, "Let's see what I can come up with!"

So after trying out several different ideas that made him cringe and hope that no one would ever see him doing it, he gave up. The kid wouldn't even touch his food. Just as Cross turned to leave, he heard a growl of a stomach, and faced Allen again to find him clutching his stomach in embarrassment.

"Sorry." Well, at least he talks though he sounds too much like Mana.

Cross sighed and got ready to exit the room when he felt his conscious acting up, what if the poor kid dies because of this? What if you could help save his life? What would Maria think of you leaving a kid to die?

Damn it! Stop thinking like that!

He glanced at the kid before giving in and trying out his last idea, threatening the kid. Sure, it might not make him laugh or feel special but the womanizer just needed the boy to eat, so in his mind it would work.

Rubbing his head and wondering if he was even in the right mind to think of doing this, he strolled back over, stabbed the already cut up chicken, and said, "If you don't eat right this second, you will have to pay off each and every part of my debt, got it?"

The kid ate.

"How do you expect to become a wizard if you can't even pay off my debts?" Cross said nonchalantly, even though on the inside he was smirking because he knew that the brat would take the bait.

"What does debt have to do with becoming a wizard, you horrible creature to mankind?!" Allen shouted, clenching his fists.

Cross looked longingly at the almost empty glass of wine before taking the last sip, "You'll find out when you're older. Now go get me another bottle of wine, idiot apprentice!"

"Fine." He sighed knowing that if his master didn't want to tell him something, it was a lost cause to try and squeeze out information. The child walked over to the cooler and got what Cross had asked for. Then he placed the bottle right next to his master, and started walking away to his his room.

Most kids of his age would have stomped all the way outside but there were rules and one of them was that Allen no matter what could not leave the house without Cross. When he had asked why, Cross had drunkenly said "Cause if people saw that ugly scar of yours the ladies would no longer come to me" before passing out leaving Allen to wonder if that was the true reason.

"Oi! Come serve me before you leave, brat!"

Allen looked back to find Cross staring expectantly at him with his glass of wine raised. He stomped back over muttering how horrible his master was. But as he was reaching for the bottle of wine, hand twitching in anger, it exploded with a pop.

Cross was not surprised by the explosion, in fact, he was smirking at his idiot apprentice who was covered head to toe in expensive red wine. He was smirking because he had finally gotten the brat to lose the calm and polite facade that he had gained with Mana, and it proved his suspicions. Not that it made a difference for Cross had already told his apprentice what he was, because he had no doubt in his mind that he could be wrong.

Allen Walker was a wizard.

"If you can't get this to levitate by this tonight, blah, blah, blah. You know the drill." Cross said lazily, swinging his bottle of wine (that Allen had been forced to get after the other one had exploded) in one hand while the other one held a textbook. He dropped the textbook on the wet mud that covered their so called backyard.

Allen nodded, squinting his eyes in concentration and tightening his grip on the stick in his hand.

"Wingardium Leviosaaa!"

It exploded in his face making him stumble not that he was surprised, it had already happened to him more times than he could count because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do it right.

"Idiot apprentice! How many times have I told you not to drag the 'a' at the end!?"

"You do it then!" Allen pouted.

"Gladly," the red haired man muttered sarcastically and grabbed the wand inside his vest and swished it while saying, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The textbook rose, hovered for a second before speeding over to where Allen was and hit him right smack in the middle.

"OW!"

"Now that a beautiful person has demonstrated for you, idiot, do it! And do it right!" He yelled angrily (he had a date and this stupid idiot was going to make him late!) making his apprentice stiffen before lifting his shaking fist up.

"You're ugly! Not beautiful, Master!"

Despite what he said, Allen practiced all day in the heat eventually going barefoot causing mud to get under his toenails and all over his feet. But he didn't give up.

"Ah!" The wand had caused an explosion again, much to his disappointment.

After a couple more tries, he took a break to drink and eat. Of course since it was Allen, he had at least five full plates that were filled to the brim. Feeling re-energized he hopped back to his feet and continued practicing.

When Cross came back, he found his apprentice lying unconscious in the mud staining his white hair with the brown-yellow wand clutched in one hand (and a kitchen sink filled with dirty dishes).

Cross chuckled to himself, "you worked too hard and I bet that you weren't even able to do it."

Regardless, he scooped him up and carried him to his room which happened to be the cupboard under the stairs. While he had another room available, he hadn't given it to Allen because he had assumed that his idiot apprentice would not want to listen to him and a woman he brought home for the night as the room was right next to his. He did want to keep the boy (partly) innocent.

But Cross had built a pipe that went from his room to Allen's that way he could hear when he had a nightmare… Which he apparently had now right after Cross had gotten settled in his bed. Damn it, he had been planning on enjoying his sleep, before getting out of bed and putting on his bathrobe. He ran down the stairs and turned sharply using the railing to turn him around in the direction of the cupboard.

He found Allen sweating and at the mercy of his sheets.

The almost-teenager rolled over in his sleep and clenched the sheets that were restricting him from moving much. "Don't leave me! You… me!"

Cross lowered himself on the bed, sorrow gleaming in his eyes making them shine in the dark, and patted him on the head as he had done when he had first found him on his doorstep. But, much to his confusion, he felt compelled to do more for the heartbroken boy who had worked himself to the bone earlier that day.

As a result, he gently untangled Allen from the bed sheets and lifted him up till he was practically carrying the boy. The said boy finally woke up and found himself in the embrace of his guardian. A small part of him was stunned but it didn't last long as he felt all the pent up sadness from losing Mana all those years ago leaking through the dam he had put it in, till finally the structure collapsed under the warmth radiating from Cross' chest.

And so for the first time since Mana had died, he cried.

Cross stiffened before relaxing and rubbing the boy's back in what he hoped was a comforting manner. It seemed to work and as he watched his apprentice fall back asleep, he realized something.

He understood why Tiedoll had adopted so many brats.

So as you can see things will change in the Harry Potter timeline.

Also not sure when I will update next.

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